Mike Craghead Carves Out his Spot on Halloween Wars: All Stars 

Mike Craghead says he has a condition — one that makes him obsessively enjoy pumpkin carving. Like many, he would carve pumpkins with his family for Halloween as a child. However, as the years passed, so did the level of complexity in Craghead's carving. "It probably really started going off the rails when I was working at Freshwater School, and that was an opportunity to have this captive audience of the kids and the staff and parents," he said. With a reliable audience, he carved extravagant sculpture that could be worn or placed in the hallway to scare and delight.

Craghead's obsession eventually led him to an appearance on the Food Network's show Halloween Wars in 2017, competing against other carvers. Since then, has been improving his skills after reflecting on his previous performance. Now he's coming back for Halloween Wars: All Stars. Five teams — each consisting of a pumpkin carver, sugar artist and cake sculptor — compete to make the best Halloween display and decoration for a grand prize of $50,000.

"Ever since 2017, I kind of wanted a redemption," Craghead says. "I recognized that the clock is real and I have to get faster. So, over the years since then [I] really concentrated on that. Craghead practiced by carving for local live events at ranches and the Sequioa Zoo at Humboldt County. He has shortened the time to carve his "weird, funny looking heads" from three or four hours down to one to two.

Craighead will be competing as the pumpkin carver for Team Killer Instincts alongside cake sculptor Gina Montesino and Season 13's sugar artist winner Teresa Shurilla. In 2017, Craghead made it to Season 7's semi-finals. How far will he go this year? No spoilers — Season 14 premiered on Sunday, Sept. 22, and new episodes will air on Food Network every Sunday night at 9 p.m. Episodes can be streamed on Discovery+ and Max.

During the first week of October, Craghead will be in Southern California at live carving events with the cast of Season 14's all stars. The carver will head back north to Humboldt County where he will ply his craft for locals. He'll be at the Organic Matters Ranch in Eureka on Oct. 12 and 19, and Eureka Natural Foods in McKinleyville and Eureka on Oct. 13 and 20, respectively. He will end the month off at Sequoia Park Zoo's Boo at Zoo event on Oct. 27.

"I'll bring a couple, at least one or two pre-carved things, and then just kind of blaze through and see how many I could do," he says.

Heather Plaza, co-owner of the Organic Matters Ranch, has not only invited Craghead to do live carving, but is also the main provider of all his pumpkin creations. Craghead does most of his live carvings gratis, but Organic Matters Ranch raffles off the pumpkins he carves as a fundraiser to support his work. She says he tends to pick pumpkins that are large and oddly shaped to build his creations. Depending on whether he wants to attach a limb, he might use a Long of Naples squash for example.

"I like the variety, like to finish it, go on to the next one," says Craghead. "And don't be too precious about any one pumpkin because it's a pumpkin. It's going to turn to mush. Take a picture. Say goodbye. It's going to go away."

Anne To (she/her) is a California Local News Fellow placed with North Coast Journal, Inc. Reach her at (707) 442-1400, extension 312, or [email protected]. The California Local News Fellowship is a state-funded initiative to support and strengthen local news reporting. Learn more about it at fellowships.journalism.berkeley.edu/cafellows.